Navy Gears Up for ‘Pirate Season’

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

April 08, 2010

Virginian-Pilot

With monsoon season ending, pirates near the Horn of Africa are ratcheting up their efforts again -- and so is the U.S. Navy.

In the past week, American sailors working in waters off Africa's east coast have responded to three brazen pirate attacks. Two of the incidents involved Norfolk-based Navy ships.

The latest came Monday when the guided missile destroyer McFaul captured 10 pirates after they began firing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades at a private vessel about 100 miles off the coast of Oman. The Navy announced the encounter Wednesday.

"It's something we have to be prepared for now," said the McFaul's executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Matt

Pederson, speaking by phone from the destroyer. "It's a scourge."

Pederson said the McFaul responded after intercepting a distress call from the vessel under attack, The Rising Sun.

Pirates had pulled alongside their target in a small skiff. They then opened fire. The Rising Sun's crew increased their speed and sprayed their attackers with fire hoses, prompting the pirates to break off and return to their mother ship, a commandeered Indian cargo dhow that the pirates captured around March 26. They'd been holding hostage the dhow's nine-man crew ever since.

An Omani warship arrived first on the scene, and as it approached the dhow, the nine crew members seized their chance for rescue: They jumped into the water and swam for the warship. Eight made it aboard to safety. One is believed to have drowned, Pederson said.

Indian media reports identified the dead sailor as Sultan Ahmed Khijja, from the country's western state of Gujarat.

The McFaul arrived as the Omani crew was helping the Indian escapees aboard. The McFaul's sailors directed the pirates to place their hands in the air, gather on the bow and surrender. Fourteen McFaul sailors then boarded the dhow and arrested the pirates. "Our first objective was to make sure they were all handcuffed," said Ensign Kevin Lamping, who was among the sailors who made the arrests. "We knew we didn't want to mess with these guys."

The pirates were moved to the nearby U.S. destroyer Carney, where they will be held until they can be transferred for prosecution, the Navy said in a news release.

The eight Indian sailors who escaped were returned to their dhow. "They were very thankful," Lamping said. "We saved their lives and their livelihoods."

The McFaul is attached to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group. Its crew of 270 deployed from Norfolk in January; they're expected home this summer. Their encounter came less than a week after two other Navy ships defended themselves against pirates near the Seychelles islands.

Late last week, the destroyer Farragut, homeported in Mayport, Fla., was called to the scene of a Sierra Leone-flagged tanker that came under attack by three pirate skiffs. Eleven pirates were found aboard the skiffs and allowed to leave after their weapons and equipment were confiscated.

The same day, the Norfolk-based frigate Nicholas took small-arms fire from pirates in the Indian Ocean. The ship returned shots and captured five Somalis.

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[Mary]

GO NAVY!

[Pamela]

Wow. My son is going to go out on a VBSS mission. This gives me an idea of what he might be doing...

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

Pirate chasing appears to becoming a regular focus for our ships in that region, four incidents in the past month. Silly pirates don't they know who they are messing with?!!

[nylindat]

Yes my son is on the USS Mesa Verde and I was teasing him that he would encounter pirates
on the seas. Go Navy

[Jim's Mermaid]

Wow. Pretty sweet.

[Cynthia=Proud Nuke Mommy]

Ha-Ha!

Pirates v. US Navy.

Navy or the win!

[Arwen]

Well, if they keep targeting Navy ships, this should be easy. I mean, what kind of idiot attacks a US Navy warship with a skiff, as they have twice in the last month?

[Trixy]

Arwen, I second this one. NO MATCH. U.S.NAVY + SCORE, PIRATES -0, DOWN IN FLAMES. AS A MATTER OF FACT, I'VE BEEN THERE, SEEN IT WITH MY OWN EYES! THERE WAS A LOT OF SNICKERING ON THE SHIP. "WHAT THE?" AND... "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING, WHO ARE THESE CLOWNS?" ABSOLUTELY, LAUGHABLE. IN THE WORDS OF ONE CHIEF, " DAM GOOD TARGET PRACTICE."

[Johanna , Zac mom]

My son is on the USS Nassau The Ashland is part of the fleet. The Nassau had to take care of the eleven pirates before they were flown to Norfalk to stand trial

[Trixy]

YOUR SON IS A HERO, I KNOW IT'S HIS JOB, AS PART OF THE CREW, TO KEEP LAW AND ORDER ON THE HIGH SEAS, DOES'NT IT JUST MAKE YOU SWELL WITH PRIDE...THE U.S. NAVY.
EDUCATED, HIGHLY TRAINED, SUPER PROFESSIONAL ON EVERY LEVEL, WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE WORLD'S FINEST NAVY. I SALUTE YOUR SON, JOB WELL DONE! I AM FORMER U.S.N. I SERVED FOR 10 YRS., I WISH THAT I HAD STAY'D FOR 20. MY DAUGHTER IS IN BOOTCAMP AS OF MARCH 23RD, ABOUT X2 WKS. TO GO. ANGEL WINGS AROUND ALL OF THOSE WHO SERVE, IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THE U.S.A.